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Anti-EGFR MoAb treatment in colorectal cancer: limitations, controversies, and contradictories

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Abstract

Anti-epidermal growth-factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibody (MoAb) treatment for chemotherapy refractory or metastatic colorectal cancer has obtained great achievement. However, not every colorectal patient responds to such molecular-targeted agent well. Biomarkers associated with anti-EGFR resistance are not limited to KRAS mutation up to now. It was recently reported that cross-talking molecular effectors interacted with EGFR-related pathway were also negative predictor for anti-EGFR treatment. However, the limited data, controversial results, and contradictories between in vitro and clinical studies restrict the clinical application of these new biomarkers. Although the current theory of tumor microenvironment supported the application of multi-target treatment, the results from the clinical studies were less than expected. Moreover, WHO or RECIST guideline for response assessment in anti-EGFR MoAb treatment was also queried by recent AIO KRK-0306 trial. This review focuses on these controversies, contradictories, and limitations, in order to uncover the unmet needs in current status of anti-EGFR MoAb treatment in colorectal cancer.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Grant 81172094 and 8110186 from the National Science Foundation of China, Grant 2011-WS-005 from the Six Talents Peak Foundation of Jiangsu Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Comprehensive Cancer Center of Drum-Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Clinical Cancer Institute of Nanjing University, 321 Zhongshan Road, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Lei Cheng, Wei Ren, Li Xie, Jiang Liu, Jing Hu, Bao-Rui Liu & Xiao-Ping Qian

  2. Department of Biological Science and Technology and State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Ming Li

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  1. Lei Cheng
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  2. Wei Ren
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  3. Li Xie
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Correspondence to Xiao-Ping Qian.

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L. Cheng and W. Ren contributed equally to this work.

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Cheng, L., Ren, W., Xie, L. et al. Anti-EGFR MoAb treatment in colorectal cancer: limitations, controversies, and contradictories. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 74, 1–13 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-014-2489-6

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